Tom Kristensen won the Le Mans 24 Hours for the fifth time in succession on Sunday. In doing so, the Dane equaled Jacky Ickx’s record of six wins in the historic race.
Tom Kristensen won the Le Mans 24 Hours for the fifth time in succession on Sunday. In doing so, the Dane equaled Jacky Ickx’s record of six wins in the historic race.
Kristensen’s Goh Audi co-driver Seiji Ara took the chequered flag and after a dramatic day of racing. After 379 laps (a race distance of over 5 000 km) Ara, Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello finished a mere 41,264 seconds ahead of the Audi UK R8 of Johnny Herbert, Guy Smith and Jamie Davies.
"I am part of a great team," Kristensen said. "I’ve been in Japan for a while now and this is huge for Japan. We had luck this time but we worked hard for it. It was a team effort."
The third-placed Champion Audi of Emanuele Pirro, JJ Lehto and Marco Werner was 11 laps down after 24 hours – the equivalent of around 35 minutes.
Herbert, Smith and Davies led as night fell on Saturday but a suspension change combined with a crash and a stop-go penalty allowed the Japanese team to take the advantage.
The English trio gradually clawed back time on Sunday, helped by a flash fire for the Goh Audi in the pits.
